Sonia has 'hatred' for Hindus, says BJP

The BJP hits back at Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her comments against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The BJP on Thursday hit back at Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her comments against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, saying she has a "hatred for Hindus" as she remained silent on "atrocities" committed against the community.

The party said while Gandhi talks of the "merchants of death" in Gujarat, she has neither apologised for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots nor spoken about the plight of the five lakh Kashmiri Pandits who have been uprooted from the valley.

"She has a hatred for Hindus. She speaks against Hindus and chooses to remain silent when atrocities are committed against the community," BJP Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha, V K Malhotra, told reporters here.

He said the anti-Sikh riots took place when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister and Narasimha Rao was the Minister of Home Affairs.

Gandhi had recently described the BJP government in Gujarat as "dishonest" as well as "merchants of death".

On Gandhi's reference to Nandigram violence at the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting, Malhotra said she had finally spoken on the issue but it came only after West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya apologised over the incident.

"I think she was waiting for permission from the CPI(M) to speak on the issue. Once they have said something, she has spoken on the issue," he said.

Contesting Gandhi's claim that several number of days were lost in the current session of Parliament because of BJP's obstructionist attitude, Malhotra said that all the bills had been passed and the Government had no agenda left.

"Today the Parliament was disrupted by their own people," he said referring to bedlam in both the Houses of Parliament on the Babri Masjid issue.

Pointing out that the Babri Masjid issue is "religiously" raised in Parliament on December six every year, the BJP leader said that the Government should not have convened the House today as it was a waste of time.